COUNCIL leader Warren Bradley has backed airline VLM’s Liverpool to London link, urging bus-inesses to “use it or lose it”.

Poor passenger levels forced VLM to cut daily frequencies from three to two from last Sunday, resulting in the 50-seater Fokker moving from its Liverpool base to Antwerp from next month.

Virgin Trains’ decision to introduce part of its planned half-hourly peak time trains a year early from this December could also hit the route.

Now Cllr Bradley, Liverpool’s champion for business, is warning that the link could be abandoned altogether and Liverpool could miss out in the future if the service is not used.

He said: “It is vital that Liverpool has a direct air link to and from London if we are to attract more jobs and investment.

“We want to sell our city to the world, a truly international place once again, looking outwards, and a well used link to our own capital city is a must.

“I urge business leaders to support VLM instead of alternative train services. We spent a long time campaigning for this link and VLM showed confidence in this city by launching the service. It is essential we repay their faith by making the most of it.”

Mike Taylor, chief executive of the council and chamber of commerce joint venture BusinessLiverpool, added: “While at this moment the existing VLM service may well be viewed by the airline as uneconomic, we have some major drivers about to come on stream in Liverpool which will add significant real demand to the London/Liverpool service.”

VLM spokesman Tim Gresty revealed a glimmer of hope after the latest shake-up, which involves an earlier morning flight from London to Liverpool.

“We are starting to see bookings from Antwerp and Brussels to Liverpool via London. We are confident the route will move to profitability.”